Governor Kathy Hochul of New York vetoed a bill just days before Christmas that aimed to facilitate challenges to convictions for individuals who had pleaded guilty to crimes. The legislation would have amended New York Criminal Procedure Law Article 440.  The bill, which garnered support from criminal justice reformers but faced vehement opposition from prosecutors, sought to broaden the grounds on which individuals could contest their convictions.

Read the bill and its supporters and opponents HERE:

https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2023/S893/amendment/A#:~:text=2023%2DS893A%20(ACTIVE)%20%2D%20Sponsor%20Memo&text=SUMMARY%20OF%20SPECIFIC%20PROVISIONS%3A%20Sections,three%20provides%20the%20effective%20date.

In a letter released on Saturday explaining her veto decision, the Democrat governor cited concerns about the bill’s “sweeping expansion of eligibility for post-conviction relief,” expressing fears that it could disrupt the judicial system and lead to an unjustifiable influx of frivolous claims.

Currently, under state law, individuals who plead guilty are generally prohibited from seeking the reopening of their cases based on claims of innocence, except in specific instances involving new DNA evidence. The bill, passed by the legislature in June, aimed to broaden the range of admissible evidence demonstrating innocence, including video footage or confessions by others. Claims of coerced guilty pleas would also have been considered.

Opponents, including prosecutors and advocates for crime victims, argued that the legislation would open the floodgates to endless and frivolous legal appeals by those already found guilty. 

The vetoed legislation could have benefited individuals like Reginald Cameron, who was exonerated in 2023 after pleading guilty to first-degree robbery in 1994. Cameron, who confessed after hours of questioning without legal representation, served over eight years in prison. His conviction was overturned after a reinvestigation revealed inconsistencies between the crime facts and the confessions, and identified the detective involved as connected to other cases resulting in exonerations.

The New York Court of Appeals, New York’s highest court, affirmed in 2018 that individuals pleading guilty cannot challenge convictions unless supported by DNA evidence, making it challenging for defendants to present evidence that is not DNA-based. Over the past three decades, the proportion of criminal cases going to trial in New York has steadily declined, with the majority being resolved through guilty pleas.